Two Hearts Are Better Than One
by Gypsy Rose2014
Summary: ONE SHOT FLASH! Ren Solo is desperate to outshine her twin brother Luke at something. Unfortunately, her plans to make a valentine card for her mother aren't working out as she planned. ***I couldn't resist a ReyLo baby story.***


A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! I thought I'd write a quick and silly flash as my valentine to all of you! As always, I own nothing.

Ren wrinkled her nose as she concentrated on the bright red paper clutched between her chubby fingers. This was her third attempt and she didn't want to wreck it again. Red and pink scraps of paper littered the floor around her like confetti. She was running out of paper and any second her mother was going to come in and scold her for making a mess. Her brother had shown her how to fold the paper to make the heart, but it didn't seem to be working out. Every time she tried, she cut the heart in half.

Stupid Luke! Why did he have to be better than her at everything? He claimed it was because he was older. Ten minutes older, big deal. She knew it was because whenever he explained how to do something, he went too fast and always left out a step, just to make her feel stupid.

Ren took a deep breath and folded the paper in half. Taking up an oversized stylus, she drew half a heart on the folded paper. She smiled, seeing that she'd finally managed to draw a heart that was properly pointed at one end and round at the top without being crooked. She put the stylus aside and picked up the tiny scissors. Her fingers were clumsy as she threaded her fingers through the holes. Now she was ready to cut. She closed her eyes and pictured how Luke had so expertly cut his heart out earlier. "I can do it," she said to herself, blowing a stray black curl out of her face for the thousandth time. Carefully, she cut around her drawing, being sure not to chop up the sides. When she was finished, she smiled at her handiwork and opened up the paper.

And her heart once more fell in two.

It was the final insult! Five-year-old rage bubbled up and Ren tore the heart into a thousand pieces before bursting into tears. There was very little that Ren had not been able to master and the fact that one silly Valentine card for her mother could not be accomplished was enough to send her over the edge. She wept the tears of a child who had lost their favorite toy for all time, but it wasn't sadness—it was pure, white-hot anger. Just the sight of the package of paper lying on the floor beside her was unbearable and she took up the scissors. In seconds, she'd cut it all up. Then she cried because she'd destroyed all of her paper and made a huge mess.

"What is going on in here?"

Ren turned to find her father standing in the doorway, followed by a creche droid that buzzed and beeped in annoyance. Her sobs turned to wailing as she realized that she was about to be destroyed. Finally, all she could get out was, "I was trying to make a card for Mummy!"

"Just one, or several?" he asked, sending the droid away. He strode into the room and sat down on the floor beside Ren, folding his long legs under him. She immediately crawled into his lap, weeping into his tunic until there were dark, wet spots left behind. "Ren, all this wailing really is unnecessary." He brushed the escaped curl away from her face and tried tucking it into the intricate bun at the side of her head. "You scared the droid."

"I can't do it!" she wailed. "I can't make my fingers do what I want them to do."

Ben picked up the broken heart pieces and smiled. "Give yourself a break, kid. You're only five."

"Luke did his perfect," she whined. "And he's only five."

"We all know Luke's a freak of nature," he said. "And this is a really good heart. You just cut all the way through it."

"I wanted mine to be better than his. It was my idea anyway." She took the pieces from her father and tried piece them back together to no avail. "Help me, Daddy. Paste it."

"You kind of destroyed all the paper. Look, maybe you can write your name on Luke's."

Ren's chin trembled. "But I want to make a card for Mummy. I don't want to share with Luke! I want to make my own!"

"All right," he sighed. "Just, don't cry anymore." Ben looked around at the broken hearts on the floor, trying to find a half that would match up with the one Ren had destroyed. "Here we are," he said, plucking a pink half-heart from the floor. "This one is almost the same shape."

Ren was unimpressed. "No, Daddy. I wanted to make a red heart for Mummy. Not a pink one." She rolled her eyes as if she were dealing with a half-wit. "That don't match anyway."

"We can make it work. Here, hold it." Ben stood up and hoisted Ren up on his shoulders. She giggled madly and clapped. She loved the feeling of being so high above everything. Luke was always scared and practically choked their father out whenever he carried him this way.

She waved to the servant droids as they passed through the corridors and into the small archive chamber. Ren slid down her father's back and into a chair with a bounce that drew another giggle. "That was fun. Do it again."

"Later," Ben said. "Let's fix your card." He set the heart pieces down on the desk in front of Ren. "Fit the two pieces together," he instructed as he rummaged through a drawer.

"It's like a puzzle," Ren sang, putting the halves together to make a somewhat malformed pink and red heart.

Ben picked her up again and set her in his lap as he sat down in the chair. He opened a bottle of sticky glue and painted the torn edge to fit the two halves together. "Blow on it," he said to Ren, then demonstrated by blowing at her cheek teasingly.

"Daddy," she giggled. Soon the two of them were blowing heartily on the paper heart.

Once it was dry, Ben produced a piece of black paper. He made a big show of folding the paper and cutting out a larger heart. "Watch this," he said, offering Ren a wink. He took up a smaller stylus and clicked the button at the side. A tiny beam of light appeared at the end and he used the stylus to make tiny cuts all over the larger heart.

"It looks like lace!" Ren exclaimed, fascinated by this new and amazing ability her father had.

When it was done, Ren pasted the small heart on top of the lace. She sat back, proud of herself, and signed her name across the heart in blocky letters. "It looks better than Luke's stupid heart."

"Glad I could help you show up your brother," Ben said, laughing as Ren threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.


End file.
